SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*Preparations Continue for Expedition 15, ATV*
Image above: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Image
credit: NASA
TO VIEW PICTURE GO TO:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Suni Williams
completed internal assembly tasks for the startup later this year of the
new Oxygen Generation System (OGS). OGS, which will be required once the
station crew expands to six people, is scheduled for activation during
Expedition 15.
Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin prepared for the arrival of the European
Space Agency’s unpiloted cargo craft, the Automated Transfer Vehicle.
Tyurin set up equipment in the Zvezda module for a ground-operated test
of the satellite navigation system to be used during autonomous docking
of the ATV.
A reboost of the station is planned for March 15 using the Progress 23
engines to place the station at the correct altitude for the launch of
the Soyuz TMA-10 carrying the Expedition 15 crew.
The ISS Progress 23 cargo ship, currently docked to the Zvezda service
module, will be jettisoned on March 27 to make room for the Soyuz TMA-9
craft currently docked at the Zarya module. The Soyuz TMA-9 will be
moved to the Zvezda service module on March 29 to make room for the
Soyuz TMA-10. The Expedition 15 crew is scheduled to arrive at the
station on April 9. The Expedition 14 crew will return to Earth on April 20.